Telcos pick up pace of video expansion

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - Top U.S. telecom carriers are attracting more subscribers to their nascent video services, with Verizon Communications Inc. finally gaining a critical mass to compete against cable rivals. While still losing customers to cable companies -- which made a head start in offering all-in-one "bundles" of video, Internet and phone services -- AT&T Inc. and Verizon are fighting back, the latest quarterly earnings reports showed. Verizon added 167,000 subscribers to its FiOS TV service in the second quarter, taking the total to 515,000, according to its quarterly report on Monday. That compared with 141,000 additions in the first quarter and showed that the roll-out, which began in September 2005, was picking up momentum.



"They're gaining a critical mass of subscribers," said A.G. Edwards analyst Kent Custer, adding that investors were more supportive now of the high cost of the all-fiber-optic network that Verizon is building. "The proof is in the pudding now."


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Manufacturing growth is stronger in June: ISM

(Reuters) - The June reading was the survey's highest since April of 2006 and the report reinforced the view that economic growth was recovering after nearly stalling in the first quarter.




"We continue to see a rebound in growth in the second half," said Don Kowalchik, debt strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons in St Louis, Missouri.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Wachovia gets antitrust OK for A.G. Edwards

(Reuters) - Last month, Wachovia said it would buy A.G. Edwards to
create the second-largest U.S. retail brokerage in an effort to
win more business from aging baby boomers.




A.G. Edwards is the largest independent U.S. brokerage,
with 6,618 brokers and $374 billion of client assets. Wachovia
Securities has 8,166 brokers and $773 billion of client
assets.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; Yahoo, Ceridian, Dell Climb in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures increased on
speculation the economy is rebounding after bottoming out in the
first quarter.

Shares of Yahoo! Inc., owner of the second-most-popular
Internet search engine, climbed in Europe after a stock upgrade
by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Ceridian Corp. gained as the provider of
human resource and payroll services agreed to be acquired for
$5.3 billion. Shares of Wachovia Corp., the fourth-biggest U.S.
bank, may move after the company agreed to buy A.G. Edwards Inc.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Wall Street Fire Sale Looms for Emasculated Research Boutiques in the U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- For all of its success handling
investments in more than 700 locations since it was started 120
years ago in St. Louis, A.G. Edwards Inc. may not have time on
its side.

The so-called regional brokerages are confronting a trend
that may signal the end of their independence and give them one
more chance to reward their shareholders in a bull market:
Equity-trading revenue at the biggest regional brokerages fell
during the first quarter even as their larger competitors led by
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. earned more money than ever from buying
and selling stocks.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News